RAFFAELE SOLLECITO: “THOSE ILLUSIONS THEY BUILT AGAINST US”

As the Main and Only Piece of Evidence Against Him and Amanda Knox Collapses in Court

By Frank Sfarzo
Florence, November 6 2013

“Act of Courage: Raffaele Sollecito today in courtroom”

It was interesting studying this case and, within the case, the DNA issue, but that was in 2008.

In 2009 it became already boring, let alone in 2010, 11 and 12, or even now, when this story should be confined in the annals, two years after a full absolution occurred.

For the nth time, instead, a new judge arrived, and we had to start reasoning again from square one on the same subjects. Life has to go ahead, but a little defect in the Italian judicial system – the possibility to overturn a verdict of acquittal on mere reasoning – keeps life on hold for Amanda and Raffaele, and for those like us, who are on the case since Day One.

Even the biologist of the scientific police, Stefanoni, told us already in 2010, “I can’t stand this knife anymore.” But nothing to do, life is stopped for her too.

We can’t stand talking about this knife anymore, exercising ourselves in the contemplation of a piece of cutlery that can’t have had anything to do with the crime, and that has been plenty proved it never left Raffaele’s kitchen. Even the knife itself, if he had a soul, would beg today to be left alone.

If we are so tired of all this (and observe with a half-smile the excitation of the newcomers in the new venue) imagine how tired are Amanda and Raffaele.

Nevertheless, with an act of courage, Raffaele threw himself again in the arena of the lions.

The newcomers may have thought that he would have screamed his innocence. Instead, no, he whispered. We are not at the beginning of the story, we are in the following of a never-ending story started a life ago, and he looked like he had realized that being vocal is useless, thinking probably that those who don’t want to hear wouldn’t hear anyway. That’s probably why he almost whispered to the judges the reasons of his innocence, showing dejection, maybe, but in a very effective way.

Besides describing the devastating effects of this whole story on his life, Raffaele spoke about what he called the building of the image of a criminal that “those who accused me threw on me with great contempt.” He remembered that he is a person completely different from that image. “I wasn’t drinking, I wasn’t going to parties. I did smoke some joints” –Raffaele stressed– “But that couldn’t change my personality.” Indeed, we all know that smoking a joint doesn’t change people’s personalities and turn them into murderers (otherwise universities would produce millions of murderers a year…). But yes, it was a good idea to explain it (again), because that’s what the case built against Amanda and Raffaele is: old people who judge the customs of young people that they read through the lenses of their imagination. And in their imagination a joint may be evil, and young –in truth inexperienced– kids engage themselves in orgies or rape each other… There’s nothing more tasteless, to use a euphemism, than old people talking about the sex of young people.

Raffaele then outlined what he called the “illusion” of evidence that those who accused him proposed. He could have gone on at length, but he stayed only on the main details. That after he was arrested, for instance, “those who accused me” said that there was “a shoe-print that had a perfect correspondence with my shoes.” And that came out to be not true. Same for the footprint on the bathmat, same for the DNA on the bra clasp, same for the witnesses — “all mythomaniacs”– same, last but not least, for the DNA on the knife.

The knife died today, hopefully forever. It should never have been a piece of evidence, since only a doubtful DNA test produced a doubtful Meredith profile, not confirmed by the second electrophoretic run and contradicted by the blood test, which was negative.
The Rome scientists Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti had already explained that that test was not reliable, and meant nothing. But no, a Supreme Court judge, from the heights of an improvised scientific competence, wanted to doubt the word of two scientists (a different act of “courage”…).

FORENSIC “VERDICT” ON THE KNIFE: IT’S NOT THE MURDER WEAPON

They wanted to test the trace “I.” They wanted the bike, and they had to ride. Well, the ride said that it was not Meredith’s DNA, therefore the knife is not the murder weapon. The RIS biologists explained it in a highly technical and perfectly documented report (how different from the mere assertions produced at the time by the scientific police, in truth consultant for the prosecution…), and repeated it today in court with simple words.

So, the last piece of evidence against Amanda and Raffaele is buried forever. Can they still be convicted?

Believe it or not, the lawyers think that yes, a new miscarriage of justice may happen and Amanda and Raffaele may be convicted even with no proof (probably joint smokers deserve it…).

They have seen those things happen, after all. How to forget, for instance, Amanda’s statements in the police station, that the Supreme Court in April 2008 declared inadmissible? The Supreme Court said they couldn’t be used, but they used them anyway. That’s the law baby, they can do anything they want.

Hopefully, though, this time common sense will prevail, since all evidence, as Raffaele reminded today, has been disproved.

Judges are not versed in science, but the concept to understand is very simple: errors can occur. Therefore, that multi-disproved test that, back in the obscure pre-history of this case, found “Meredith’s DNA” on the blade, should just be recognized as a normal, frequent, usual, natural, WRONG TEST. That can’t convict anyone.

What inconsistent statements has he EVER made? My God…it has even been proven that the knife blade is way too wide for it to have even made the wound in Meredith’s neck! What is with you people already? There is absolutely, positively, NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER putting Amanda and Raffaele at the scene of that crime!

Brewbaker

Just her bloody footprints, in the hall, and her blood in Meredith’s.
Don’t con us with your line “it’s only her DNA, not from blood”, when her blood was unequivocally found fresh on the faucet, too.

Heather Russell Orth

last statement from him on record (which he never changed in Court) is that Amanda wasn’t with him all night the night of the murder – no alibi for Amanda!

Dave

Actually, he DID retract that statement. I’m afraid you’re a little out of touch…

Heather Russell Orth

no he didn’t. you are out of touch. please tell me when in Court at the Massei trial he retracted the statement (so you are admitting he made the statement in the first place)

Dave

He didn’t make that statement in court, no. He was, however, coerced during his interrogation into saying that maybe Amanda left his apartment that night, later to realize afterward that she COULDN’T have done so because she would have had to buzz her way back in. Hence his retraction.

Dave

On the other hand, if the prosecution is so confident in their “overwhelming evidence” against Amanda and Raffaele, why so much focus on what they say?

Dave

I meant, what they said during their interrogations. What they say in court does matter, and I’ve never heard any inconsistent statements from Amanda or Raffaele in court. Amanda may have sounded inconsistent a few times, but that was due to translation errors (she wasn’t fully fluent in Italian until 2009). As for Raffaele, once he remembered the buzzer on his door…

Heather Russell Orth

prove this coercion. it didn’t happen. even Raffaele didn’t say it happened. he never retracted it in Court which is the place that counts. “what they say” is part of the overwhelming evidence.

Dave

Actually, the burden of proof is on the prosecution. They need to prove his statement WASN’T coerced, if he even made it at all. AND that he never retracted it. We all know he did, but we also know how good the prosecutors are at twisting everything around to present them both in as negative a light as possible.

It is obvious the prosecutors don’t care about the truth. Maybe they don’t even care about winning, either, because as long as they’re able to keep the trial going their paychecks won’t get any smaller. And you seem to be doing more than half their work for them. I hope they appreciate it. If not, perhaps you might want to remind them.

Heather Russell Orth

so they need to prove a negative? you are insane. He DID NOT retract his statement in Court ever.at the Matteini Sollecito said FOUR TIMES, voluntarily, in front of a judge, with lawyer present, that he didn’t know if Knox went out that evening. why don’t you tell me when he retracted after that? the prosecution already met their burden of proof at trial. the appeal is the DEFENDANTS APPEAL so it is up to them to come with NEW arguments for acquittal. your last paragraph is so lame and ridiculous, it’s not worth responding to.

Once again, his statement was simply a cautious “no contest” type of statement, just that. Made early in the trial when he was no sure which route to take. I think it was days after his abusive interrogation.

Heather Russell Orth

not sure if he should lie or not – yes that’s right!

Heather Russell Orth

Sollecito said FOUR TIMES, voluntarily, in front of a judge, at the Matteini hearing, with lawyer present, that he didn’t know if Knox went out that evening.

Dave

You mean at the pre-trial? I thought he would have recovered his memory by then. Where did you hear he actually said those things?

Heather Russell Orth

when did he say any statement that supported her alibi – in Court? please enlighten everyone.

Heather Russell Orth

and he said it at the hearing – you can pretend it didn’t happen but it’s what happened – no support for Amanda’s alibi

Dave

Speaking of confirmation bias, who was it that was determined that Amanda & Raffaele were guilty before the investigation had even started? Napolioni even admitted it herself by describing Amanda’s eyes, as she saw them on November 2, as “the eyes of a killer”. I’m sorry, Napolioni, but it takes more than someone’s facial expressions to determine whether they’re innocent or guilty.

Then there was Giobbi, who boasted on national TV that “We established guilt in a very short time, by observing their psychology/behaviour. There was no need for any other investigation.” Yeah, right.

DeFelici: “Case Closed”, announced on November 6. Two weeks later, one of the arrested would be proven to have an air-tight alibi. Also, Judge Mattieni was just as eager to approve Patrick’s imprisonment as the other two’s, which doesn’t tell me evidence was any more important to her than to the police.

The real blunder, though, is Stefanoni. Whenever a DNA test came up negative for a suspect she wanted (or had been instructed to incriminate by one of the higher-ups – again, a sign of confirmation bias), she would turn up the gain on her meter… even though she didn’t have the right kind of lab to handle low-copy DNA. Most of the evidence wasn’t even clean. The bra clasp, in particular, had been kicked around the floor for a month and a half before it was finally bagged, and it wasn’t even bagged properly, either. I know, because I saw how clumsily it was handled in the videos. In fact, all the forensic officers did a shitty job.

If it was my sister/daughter’s murder scene, I would have taken it as a sign of disrespect for her memory, like they didn’t care about the truth. And over time, it’s becoming more and more obvious that they don’t. They’re too concerned with protecting their precious careers and reputations.

Heather Russell Orth

but of course your confirmation bias will come out and you will twist it every which way to find an explanation of why Sollecito would do that – pressure, confusion, lunacy, drugs, whatever you can come up with!

So you admit you lied. He did not say “Amanda wasn’t with him all night the night of the murder,” as you claimed. He said he couldn’t be 100% sure. There’s a huge difference. If you cannot distinguish between the two, get lost.

Heather Russell Orth

if you can’t distinguish a liar, get lost. He said she wasn’t with him, then he said he wasn’t sure, then he said he might have gone to the moon LOL – go to hell

You are not only lying. You not only serving a rotten cause. You are serving a vicious anti-American mafia bent on destroying the life of a young American woman. Why should we treat you better than the assorted Muslim terrorist scum?

Heather Russell Orth

you wouldn’t know what was true if it jumped up and hit you in the face. the mafia is what the Italian judicial system fights against; they are not part of it. Maybe you are.

While purporting to fight the mafia, Italy’s judicial system is no less of a mafia itself, i.e. a close, self-serving, secretive and powerful organization. For the average Italian citizen, its cancer-like judiciary is more dangerous than the Sicilian mafia or the Neapolitan ‘ndragheta.

As usual, no facts from you, even though criticisms of Italy’s criminal justice system and, more specifically, its standards of forensic evidence are not hard to find.

JLS1950

Heather, your “Scientific Police” acted like a bunch of chimpanzees in a banana warehouse.

Erik Forsgren

There are lots of proofs that this trial is a miscarriage of justice. How do you account for the absence of recordings, the falsified test results of Stefanoni, the planted evidence in the form of a knife that had never been on the crime scene?

Heather Russell Orth

if you can’t dispute the facts, go after the whole system. the last desperate ploy of the guilty.

“We”, that is the defense and the independent experts, have debunked each and every “fact” – i.e. proven that each and every piece of “evidence” presented by the prosecution is worthless bunkum.

However, to explain who such a mountain of crap ever came into being, one should bear in mind that the whole case has been a railroad job from the start. One of the key cops, Giobbi, said the case was closed early in November 2007 before any evidence could have been realistically obtained. It helps to know that the system is rotten because what we have seen is a textbook example of a corrupt network in action.

Heather Russell Orth

no “you” haven’t. if “you” did, then a guilty verdict would not have been reached. you are a textbook example of a gullible fool. Bye.

Yes we have. It is clear as day to any intelligent human familiar with the car that there is no evidence against the defendants whatsoever. . Your are biased, ignorant, and an ally of an anti-American cabal out to destroy an innocent American. I hope you will have to pay for it one day.

The book was written to explain the truth and to help pay legal expenses. But Raffaele never denied that Amanda was with him, although for legal reasons he may have been extremely reluctant to make any definitive statements, since pretty much anything he might have said would been perverted by Mignini’s gang. Most good lawyers advise their innocent clients to say as little as possible.

You are still a liar.

Heather Russell Orth

I am not a liar. why don’t you join the other suckers and give some money to fund RS’s vacations. Good luck to you.

Amanda first met her lawyers only minutes before her Matteini hearing. It was probably the same for Raffaele. The young man, still suffering from the psychological trauma inflicted on him by the thugs in uniforms (Napoleoni et al.), had no time to discuss matters with his lawyer. Had I been his lawyer, I would have suggested to my client to not make any definitive statements – and he did not. It would have been ideal for him to just shut up, of course – best line of behavior, innocent or not.

It was not a trial, of course. It was a hastily convened preliminary hearing in a makeshift office in the prison building. The prosecution had a chance to question Raffaele during the real trial(s) and never even asked to use it, as was remarked by judge Nencini a few days ago.

Heather Russell Orth

Nencini is hoping he might actually tell the truth for once!!! RS could not be compelled to testify – good luck in your dream world. it seems you’re suffering from psychological trauma LOL

That is absolutely rubbish. Raff stated only hypothetically that Amanda would have had to sneak out and back in while he was asleep – and he did not think that likely. What is it with you Italians that you keep lying – bald-faced – just to get your wicked way???

Aliveagain

Oh look – JLS and his odd accusations have arrived. Have you apologised yet Mr Charmer for wishing / wanting someone dead yesterday? You should, if you had a normal sense of honour and a concience also apologise to myself for taking the p out of myself being in a coma on a life support machine during the last (I think) 6 weeks. Most of this time is still a blur to me. I wonder if you have people who love you so much they would sit by YOUR side for 5 solid days and nights only to be given the choice of turning your machines off after being told you had 4 hours left to live with a morgue bed and staff waiting outside the room. Would your father cut a few locks of your hair to have ‘something’ left of you?! Your religious heart delighted in your nastiness about this yesterday. You are NOT religious in any bone in your body – you are inherently evil. People on these boards WILL know that you are NOT what you want them to believe. The ‘authorities’ you advised who would be coming to arrest me for my part in this crime, which you still have not told me what I did (you have had a day to make something up!!) will be sent direct to you – a 60 plus yr old man who has obsessed about ‘his girl Knox’ for 6 years will be of far more interest than a mother of three who is bed / wheelchair ridden suffering from liver failiure and whom now looks like a Simpson charector!! Your time on these boards are crumbling around your ears. More people day by day will be realising what your true personality is like.

JLS1950

Given the precarious state of health that you claim, don’t you think it might be a better use of your time to spend it making laughter and warmth in your own heart and leaving positive memories in the hearts of those children you keep mentioning with such pride – rather than expending what may be limited resources manufacturing and spewing venomous and cirrhosis-causing vitriol against a young woman you have never met and do not know, and against those who compassionately support her against what they upon study have concluded is an unjust persecution rivaling the Salem Witch Trials? Why do you style yourself a maker of crucibles for the burning of human soul and spirit? Honestly, you make yourself another Henry Potter at this season of the year, and you do not even have the enjoyment of James Stewart as your leading man!

As for that serpent coil, Tesla, I might consent to reconsider my remarks if he first retracts the overt death threats he has made against Amanda Knox in her own home town. Strange sorts of “friends” that you choose to surround yourself with and defend…

Heather Russell Orth

what is it with you stupid people that you keep lying – bald-faced – just to let some murderers off the hook??

JLS1950

You should address that question to Mignini and Napoleoni…

Heather Russell Orth

stupid BYE

JLS1950

…but you never LEAVE!

Heather Russell Orth

love it. YAASH

JLS1950

YHADM

Heather Russell Orth

boom

JLS1950

Was that supposed to be an IED?

Aliveagain

Well said Heather 🙂 Wonder how long the insults and accusations will take to arrive from the fruitcake JLS!

Erik Forsgren

That is not a fact but a desperate assumption of the prosecutor who had great difficulties in placing Amanda Knox at the crime scene. Even if Amanda had the key to the house why would she leave her bed and go to via Della pergola to open for Rudy Guede? Isn’t it more plausible that Meredith herself let Rudy in if it wasn’t for the fact that he had already got access to the house by braking in?

“it has even been proven that the knife blade is way too wide for it to have even made the wound in Meredith’s neck!”

Yep, not 100% proven perhaps but pretty convincingly shown at the first trial. Not that Massei cared about that.

Brewbaker

Raffaele took Lying 101 with Knox, he copied her notes. He pulled at heartstrings because he doesn’t have any alibi.

Heather Russell Orth

his statements were just the same old same old. a complete waste of time

Dave

Kind of like the whole case against him and Amanda?

Heather Russell Orth

just like the Hellmann appeal

Dave

I was referring to the Massei trial. He really wasn’t a very good judge. Too easily manipulated by Prosecutor Mignini. Kind of like Matteini. And some of the Supreme Court Judges. I heard from Frank that Italy has a long history of cases being repeatedly sent back to the appeal court because of prosecutors who won’t stop appealing acquittals. Although I suppose you believe all THOSE people are guilty, too.

Heather Russell Orth

they have every right to appeal acquittals. the invalidation of the Hellmann appeal was a very rare occurrence (due to his lack of logic and violation of the Italian legal codes). Goodbye.

The system is rotten anyway, that much is clear. A system of “instututional injustice” as Edward Luttwak recently called it in a letter to the LRB. Well said. And of course Italy is considered by most economists as a classical example of institutional failure.

Heather Russell Orth

it’s clear the US system is rotten you are right about that. the economy there is just fantastic LOL

You do hate America and everything it stands for – fair trial above all (you seem to be unable to grasp this fundamental notion essential to Anglophone civilization). You have made common cause with a judicial and prosecutorial mafia hellbent on destroying two young, talented, innocent people, one of whom is American.

Heather Russell Orth

and you know this because . . . ???? LOL LOL LOL. the only hate is coming from you.

Heather Russell Orth

attacking the judicial system is part of the mafia M.O. I think you’re part of the mafia LOL.

Unsubstantiated? Do I have to substantiate the Earth revolves around the Sun? I have yet to see a more or less respectable Anglophone publication that would praise Italy’s judicial system for fairness and and its institutions for efficiency. As for Perugia, Mignini’s shenanigans are well known from Preston’s and Spezi’s great book(s). Comodi is now being charged with giving a six-figure contract to a brother of Mignini’s secretary… typical. Napoleoni, the one who looks alternatively like an ape in uniform and an aging streetwalker, is under investigation for death threats to her ex over a custody dispute. Pacelli is being charged with tax evasion. Typical small-town dirty-cop circus, really.

Heather Russell Orth

no you can just spout lies and people will believe them – biased people. Preston and Spezi books of fiction. when the accused are guilty their last desperate ploy is always to attack the people involved in the investigation. it doesn’t change the facts of course, but gullible people fall for it.

Huh? “The Monster of Florence” is not a “book of fiction”, and it was published in 2006, before the Kercher murder. It does a great job laying out Mignini’s and Giuttari’s machinations. Not to mention that Mario Spezi’s illegal imprisonment by Mignini caused an international uproar in 2006.

“no you can just spout lies and people will believe them”

Last time I checked, it was you who had lied about Raffaele’s statements. You still have not apologized.

Heather Russell Orth

yes it is fiction. I have NEVER lied. RS has not given AManda an alibi; he had every opportunity to at trial and still did not. GOODBYE.

JLS1950

You sound like that “valley girl” who declaimed, “I never make mistakes! This one time I thought I made a mistake.. but it turned out… I was wrong!”

You never lie – you just say a lot of things that don’t happen to be at all true!

He’s also been banned from JREF – not so much for spreading falsehoods, but for flooding comments sections. Since it takes two tests to determine an “exact match”, and Stefanoni by her own admission did only one, I’m curious… on what basis does Dr. Tesla say this? Has he not read today’s RIS Carabinieri report? It’s in all the papers! It’s been leaked now for about a week! Instead, Dr. Tesla just plain lies about the facts – and we’re now supposed to distrust him for his dislike of Mr. Sfarzo. Like Mr. Fischer says below, nice try guy.

But if it were there, it would easily be “wrong,” i.e. meaningless and worthless, if derived through improper, scientifically worthless testing, or through contamination. Not only the Conti-Vecchiotti report, but also yesterday’s statements from the Carabinieri experts indicate that Ms. Stefanoni’s methods were generally unscientific.

Tell me how a DNA profile should look, and I’ll generate it for you using nothing but MS Excel. Will that prove the DNA was there? The same with Stefanoni’s “results,” AKA rubbish.

A scientific experiment should be repeatable. If it’s impossible to repeat, the scientist should publish all the data and document every step leading to the conclusion so that independent observers will be able to verify it.

Stefanoni did none of that. She just showed nice pictures to the crowd hoping no one would call out her bluff. She did not find a complete profile anywhere either, but that’s of secondary importance.

Heather Russell Orth

it doesn’t matter how reliable the Court finds the Meredith DNA on the knife findings There is plenty of evidence against the 2 without this knife evidence.

Brewbaker

It can’t be wrong. That’s why Raffaele and Amanda both were so worried about the knife.

Tom Graham

With the Florence court upholding the CV report, how can it be right??

Heather Russell Orth

the Court has not made it’s findings, and that is not what they said, at all. perhaps you should wait until the Court actually makes its findings.

Dr_Tesla

Amanda Knox’s unsolicted written statement can be used against her. That is all you need for a conviction.

Amanda Knox’s written statement is clear evidence of her innocence and – no less importantly – of the enormous psychological trauma inflicted upon the naive, honest American girl by a pack of unscrupulous and thoroughly corrupt Italian cops.

Brian Harding

This may be all YOU need to vilify her, but the ISC has already ruled on those statements… they are inadmissible. You’ll also need to explain lack of motive, and lack of ANY forensics pointing to her. Indeed, the police bragged they’d solved this case before the forensics were returned…. not sure why you are committed to lying about this…

Brewbaker

Drugs was her downfall. Drugs and vodka.

JLS1950

Her unsolicited written statements deny both her own guilt and her supposed “independent” accusation of Lumumba. You would have to alter the definition of “is” to make her own written statements “incriminating”. Go back under your bridge.

Tom Graham

How can any (VERY DUBIOUS) statement have any remaining credibility when it is not supported by the crime scene evidence? Why do you think we should trust Napoleone (shunted to a different office) , Zugarini (suspended for 2 months earlier this year,) and Mignini himself (whose case is languishing in the judicial system,) who all have been busted for abuse of office?

Dr_Tesla

Isn’t this Frank guy on trial for assault and other crimes? I wouldn’t want him testifying to my innocence. lol

Yeah, Go Frank, you little angel you. Moore supports more women attackers, who are even charged with domestic violence whilst having to live at home with mummy & sister. At the time of his arrest he BIT a police officer. The woman he attacked in Hawaii has been called a little tramp and vile by JLS. FS was kicked out of the Knox’s home for trying to sleep with her and these classy people STILL support him. Great set of morals. Bye Bye sadistic American Knox. The States will soon have returned you to Italy to serve justice.

JLS1950

You and your sister Italian cops constitute a new branch of the mafia.

Are you in favour of attacking women? You obviously are to be supporting an American sadist and also trying to start rumours against fs’s female assault victim in Hawaii by spreading rumours she liked to be raped.

JLS1950

It is the Italian courts and sick people like yourself who are attacking an innocent young woman while protecting a vicious killer. Stop projecting your own sins and crimes onto others, fake!

Try to put together something coherent next time, and don’t profane the name of a great scientist.

Heather Russell Orth

I read that he is pleading guilty; if true he is guilty

Brian Harding

Dr. Tesla has also been banned at JREF for flooding the board with spam comments. So what he wishes to do is refute Mr. Sfarzo’s piece with spam here. Fortunately the RIS Carabinieri has spoken because Mr. Sfarzo is reporting what happened in court today… it takes two tests to identify DNA, and Stefanoni only did one on the alleged Meredith sample. This is even by her own admission, given that she thought only one test was possible anyway given the small trace-size of what was there – what Stefanoni alleged was in a groove on the knife no one else can see. What Mr. Sfarzo is saying here, despite Dr. Tesla’s spam, is that this science was known and knowable in 2009 when the pair were unjustly convicted. What happened in 2009 was the the then-judge allowed Stefanoni’s testimony, taking her word for it. Each subsequent trial, including this one, has commissioned an independent report, and each time an expert has looked at that knife, they’ve concluded it had nothing to do with the murder. What Dr. Tesla has in rebuttal is disruptive spam. Good for him.

Since Knox is clearly innocent, whatever Italian courts may say (no one who knows anything can trust their legal system), you could be accused of a variety of offenses, from defamation to conspiring to kidnap an American citizen. At the very least, you should be refused entry to the US, which by the way does not even require judicial authorization.

Keep spewing insults, that will surely help your case.

Erik Forsgren

No we will report you for having you transferred to a closed mental institution where they can handle histrionic narcissistic megalomaniac mythomaniac patients that spread lies and harass decent people.

Excellent! Great article. I can’t believe there would even be a chance of them being convicted again, but, like you said, in 2008 they said the so called “confession” wasn’t even admissible yet they used it. It is a matter of an honest court. We shall see, I still remain hopeful. 🙂 Glad you are writing again.

oz33

michelle what position did your husband have in the FBI?

Sjdsgirl

OMG Stop this travesty!

Odysseus

Sollecito’s dubious position is that he didn’t do it, therefore he wants his knife life back

Paweł Bukowski

Dr Tesla was here, I see. Thankfully, it’s in the past now, so is the knife. When it comes to evidence, the case is so over, it’s not even worth commenting. When it comes to logical thinking by some of Italian judges, it’s still one big unknown.

Karen

Always important to see an Italian point of view, thanks Frank.

Luigi Bubani

I am italian,too,and I have the opposite idea of Frank.

Odysseus

Mr. Sfarzo (aka Frank Sforza), I understand you’re facing a contempt of court charge and the trial is in Florence, 6 December. Why haven’t you mentioned that in this disgraceful piece (rhetorical question by the way)?

Will you also be the subject of a “wrongful conviction” piece here very soon?

A wrongful conviction site run by convicts isn’t going to impress too many people.

Phineas T. Prune

Any piece that is responded positively by the nosejob needing Noel Dalberth is a very fun piece for laughter.

Why would you spend the time (at least an hour) writing this false, silly and overall useless piece which will not affect the upcoming convictions, thirty year sentences and quick extradition when you could have been using it to defend yourself in your own upcoming trial?

carlofab

Thank you, Frank Sfarzo

victoria

Amanda confessed only after 7 hours of non-stop questioning during which she was given no food and no water. She was not allowed a lawyer or an interpreter. She asked to go to the bathroom to clean up because she had started her period but they told her she wasn’t leaving that room until she confessed; until she named her partner. Afterwards, she wrote several letters recanting her confession and saying that Patrick was not with her that night, as the police kept insisting she say. The letters were never allowed in court.

JLS1950

And her “confession” was not even really a “confession” if your read it. Moreover, we know that she did not write it and that she likely was incapable of reading it with full comprehension that early in her “visit” to Italy.

Heather Russell Orth

Amanda made a statement implicating an innocent man after about an hour and a half of a witness interview that she wasn’t even asked to come in for. After having given an incriminating statement the interview was stopped and she was advised to have a lawyer, which she later did. She was provided with an interpreter (obviously, since the interpreter gave evidence at trial). Her statement was inadmissible, but her handwritten letter was admissible as it was given voluntarily after she had been cautioned. There have been no suggestions from any of the Courts that proper procedures were not followed in this case.

Can I just say a huge THANK YOU to Ground Report and to Disqus for keepin’ it classy. Most comments to me are deleted before I have to see them. Thank you very much. PS If a comment is deleted it means it wasn’t appropriate. To comment here all one has to be is someone who is appropriate. 🙂

oz33

fantastic i know what you mean pinocchio!

oz33

michelle what position did your husband have in the FBI?

oz33

a huge thank you!

Aliveagain

Shame you have never followed suit Miss Classless. Dozens of your OWN posts have been deleted both by GR and Disqus. It was real classy to attack an official in Court and then being dragged off by police. It was real classy of gravy train hubby to use underhand means against a non Knox believer and for you to be caught discussing his actions with pride. A real classless couple. BTW What position did your nearly ex husband have in the FBI?

Wait. This is who??? And you know me again, how? Oh, this is OZ. My husband had an amazing career in the FBI. The parts that are not classified you can find some of it on his blog. gmancasefile.com Please pass this information to someone named OZ. Although I’m fairly certain you both know of his website you keep asking about it. So there is your answer. I’m sorry, but this post is inappropriate. Name calling, just like OZ and Grahame? I have to flag it. I don’t get my posts deleted because I don’t call names and I am respectful. It’s a great thing to be able to be.

oz33

you having a bad day michelle?

oz33

who did that website amanda’s pr firm?

Aliveagain

Your investigative skills are as good as hubby’s. LOL. First I am OZ, then a few sentences later YOU ask ME to pass a message to OZ!! Well done clever gal 😉

the obvious. This is your last contact with me…sorry, you can’t follow simple adult like ways of discussion, then you can’t talk to me. Btw, I’ spectacular.

Patrick King

We’ve got to get the focus on Rudy Guede! All this Amanda & Raffaele stuff is a blind so that NO ONE examines Guede. Honestly, I am not sure Guede killed Meredith Kercher personally but he certainly knows who did. We have extensive information, even extensive speculation about the prior lives of Amanda & Raffaele. Why has no one examined this history of Rudy Guede in Milan where he apparently committed his first crimes? In Perugia where he first ran away from home while his father was exiled in Africa. Who did he stay with while his step mother couldn’t find him? Why did he choose a nursery school to break into? Why did he prepare large amounts of food there. Why did he sleep there when his aunt and uncle live not very far away? Why did he break into a law office instead of a jewelry store for example? There are so many questions that may impact this murder regarding the guy who actually left evidence at the crime scene. Why focus entirely on two people who left no evidence. Amanda and Raffaele are red herrings to draw attention away from the person who actually has answers.

JLS1950

Patrick, I wholeheartedly agree. I think this entire fraud and charade was crafted to divert attention from Guede and and from whoever allowed him to remain free on the streets to commit this crime – or perhaps even sent him into that cottage for some nefarious purpose.

I also think we should be looking much more carefully at Monica Napoleoni and her murder squad “detectives” who have been implicated in tire slashings and death threats made against Napoleoni’s personal “enemies” in a child custody dispute. If Napoleoni is unstable and corrupt enough to send her own police underlings to harass, threaten and vandalize the property of her ex-husband and her own children’s psychologist… what on EARTH might she have been capable of doing or trying to do to – for example – a flirtatious foreign girl seen in a bar where her ex-husband or other romantic interest was present?

There is very much that is not being said and not being examined in this case.

thethunderbolt

“Believe it or not, the lawyers think that yes, a new miscarriage of justice may happen”
I listened to a radio interview that said if the knife comes up negative for Meredith’s’ DNA (which it did) they could be looking to convict these two on some lesser charge. Unbelievable.

Erik Forsgren

I am really glad you are back Frank Sfarzo. I have missed your interesting well written articles very much this latest one being no exception from that rule.

Aliveagain

Now why does it not surprise me that Erik admires someone who assaults women and old men (including his OWN mother and SISTER) whom he lived with. On arrest he BIT a police officer!! He is banned from Canada, Hawaii and The US. FS is the type of sad man that will need / and would take advantage to buy himself a Third World teenage bride. Justice for the Kercher family is nearing day by day.

Erik Forsgren

It must be this mhill4 who has got alive again! So you couldn’t live without me and came back again. How can I resist this charming mhill4. It must be love.

It’s Ghislane, judging by another post (“home of my dreams” referring to the Singaporean property of someone Ghislane knows well and attempts to impersonate).

Erik Forsgren

Ok. So it was that other embarassing troll.

JLS1950

Same person under a different “identity”. Italian, not British.

JLS1950

Yes, Alex, the term “mhill4” does actually connect with a certain popular and successful businesswoman and blogger who does speak of Singapore but does not appear to live there and I think is not connected to this case or these boards in any way. I think Ghissy attempts to “borrow” that persona and several others to form her “legends”. (“Ghislaine” connects to a NY-based designer as well – and other aliases also seem to connect to disparate real people.)

But the actual person behind Ghissy is clearly running on Italy time and I am seeing now has the basic personality of a cop or criminal investigator: “she” lapses into “interrogation mode” in accordance with the “Reid technique” when rattled. In think it is interesting that “Aliveagain” claims to have been in a “coma” for a time (thus “explaining” her several-week absence from the boards) but at about the time that Monica Napoleoni and several of her murder-squad investigators came under official scrutiny and perhaps also limitations of freedom due to allegations that they slashed tires and spray-painted death threats related to Napoleoni’s custody battle with her ex-husband.

I have long felt that the “ebullient” Ghissy was Italian rather than “English”, and that “she” is connected to Italian law enforcement somehow. I am now seriously wondering if she might be one of Napoleoni’s officers or even Napoleoni herself – working with an English (UK) spell-checker turned on. Just overnight, she seems to have managed to get a couple of my posts removed from CNN in which I speculated on such a connection – apparently by splattering them with objectionable comments and then flagging the whole subthread from another alias. Watch and see if she does likewise to this post.

“Aliveagain” is not at all what she claims to be, and her real connection to this case may speak VOLUMES.

Aliveagain

Alex, jealousy of my sister Ghislaine is quite normal from little effeminate ‘men’ such as yourself. Do not forget to collect you food stamps, saddo. LOL.

I don’t need to thanks, I already have the home of my dreams 🙂 Poor you, knowing the underside of a rock is superior to the poop hole you live in. Your sad life is punishment for supporting Knox, The Butcher of Perugia and Harry Potter helper.

People who name call aren’t worth the time of day. If you see a post that doesn’t follow at the few guidelines here, just report them Life’s too short–just feel sorry for them 🙂 And, it’s STILL a great post, btw. The poo theory is just beyond hilarious. Poop fight? So, are they saying that Meredith got mad at Amanda for not flushing Guede’s POOP? Really? Sorry, this doesn’t pass the giggle test. So has anyone EVER heard of a case where someone murdered another person over the victim getting angry for not flushing a POOP? Oy. I just don’t see Meredith getting angry to the point of a FIGHT? As far as I know they never got in a fight at all. Ever. Desperate much, Prosecutor?

Aliveagain

Moore, you hypocrite. YOU are one of the biggest name callers on these boards, the only difference is that your name calling is so childish it belongs in a school playground. LOL.

Kenneth Janeway

Finally we get to the case-winning issue that the prosecutors have entered the wrong knife into “Evidence.” Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are completely Innocent of any involvement in the death of Meredith Kercher because “they were not there, they were at Raffaele’s apartment the entire night”. Case closed – Acquit both of them, again, now Court of Appeals in Florence, Italy…and admit your Judicial system has made a huge mistake in even arresting these two criminal defendants in the first place. – KJ –

Luigi Bubani

I wonder when Raffaele stop lying.
Remind me of Amanda.
He is the male version of Amanda.
OMG